Run away! run away!
One strawberry plant is, I think, trying to tell me it’s unhappy in its pot. It hasn’t produced fruit or even flowers. But it has just started to grow the fastest moving runner I have ever seen. I think it’s growing at about an inch a day. I wonder if I should leave it on and give it a chance to grow baby strawberry plants free from the confines of the pot. On the other hand I have also read that runners should be removed to improve the strawberry crop (which, let’s face it, is a dismal 0 for this plant). For now, my indecision means the runner stays attached, but not yet lying over bare soil.
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Netto's Strawberries progress journal
This entry is about Netto's Strawberries that is currently in the New Back garden garden.
Sydney, Australia
Buzz buzz buzz!
Listen in on the Grapevine
Glittertrash wrote:
I think you should pop a little pot under it and let it do it’s growing thing, because, well, your plant isn’t making strawberries, it might as well make other strawberry plants. My plants aren’t making strawberries OR other strawberry plants: all they’re making is loads of big, lush leaves.
Posted on 06 Nov 08 (about 2 months ago)
Wwwcight wrote:
have you tried feeding it? if its growing runners its not putting effort into growing flowers and fruit, so unless you especially want more plants you should cut off all runners.
too much nitrogen in the fertiliser will make all the growth go into leaves raher than fruit, either use a weak dilution of tomato fertilizer to boost potassium levels. Alternatively you could apply sulphate of potash, but that is all potassium, so you could use it as a kick start.
Posted on 07 Nov 08 (about 2 months ago)
Netto wrote:
I’ve read that fertilisers high in N encourage leaf growth, while those high in K lead to more flowering, just as you suggest Wwwcight. (I’ve never read the biochem behind it, so that might make a nice little project sometime!)
Is there a way of providing K organically? (mashed bananas?!)
I think the runner is now just about ready to be separated from its mum, so i’ll pop a little pot under it then cut the “umbilical cord” in a day or two. Then try for more fruit with the K!
Posted on 07 Nov 08 (about 2 months ago)
Netto wrote:
There’s a happy ending to the runner story. I did pop it in a little pot and gifted it to a friend. Then the original strawberry plant gave me some fantastic strawberries!
Posted on 08 Dec 08 (about 1 months ago)